Mental Health (Jersey) Law 201-

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A decision made 29 July 2016:

Decision Reference: MD-HSS-2016-0050
Decision Summary Title :	Lodging of the Mental Health (Jersey) Law 201-		Date of Decision Summary:	29th July 2016
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Service for Older People		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:
Written Report Title :	Ministers Report – New Mental Health Law		Date of Written Report:	29th July 2016
Written Report Author:	Director of Service for Older People		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: The lodging of a new Mental Health (Jersey) Law 201-
Decision(s): The Minister for Health and Social Services approved the Draft Mental Health (Jersey) Law 201- for lodging ‘au Greffe’.
Reason(s) for Decision: Currently, the treatment of people affected by mental disorders is provided for in Jersey under the Mental Health (Jersey) Law 1969. However, there are a number of difficulties with the 1969 Law, which does not reflect modern standards for the diagnosis and treatment of persons with mental disorders. The new Mental Health Law safeguards the dignity and wellbeing of people who suffer from mental disorder and also provides a framework to reduce the risk to such persons and the public in general from harmful behaviours as a result of a mental disorder. For a number of years the Courts in Jersey have been critical of the lack of appropriate powers for them to order the assessment and treatment of Mentally Disordered Offenders (“MDOs”). The lack of appropriate provision in Jersey has caused great difficulty for the Courts and criminal justice system when they deal with cases involving MDOs. The new Law will provide the Courts with appropriate powers to dispose of criminal cases involving people who are mentally disordered and also reforms and replaces the Criminal Justice, Insane Persons (Jersey) Law 1964 which is incorporated into the new mental health law.
Resource Implications: The financial and manpower implications of the draft Mental Health (Jersey) Law 201- and Capacity and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 201- are closely related and have been assessed together. The financial and manpower implications of approving both pieces of legislation will be 6 full time equivalents, being 4 in the Judicial Greffe, 1 in the Law Officers Department and 1 in the Health and Social Services Department at a total cost of approximately £1,166,000 over 2016, 2017 and 2018. These staff will be responsible for the preparatory work to enable this legislation to be developed to the point where it can be brought into force. Funding for this expenditure will be from existing budgets and the proposed funding included in the MTFP Addition. Bringing both pieces of legislation into full force as described in the report, via Appointed Day Acts, will have further financial and manpower implications. Of those implications, a sum of £1,900,000 over 2018 and 2019 has been identified within existing budgets and the proposed funding included in the MTFP Addition. The final detailed implications will be dependent upon the legislation development, preparatory work, and timing of the Appointed Day Acts. The papers supporting the proposed Appointed Day Acts will set out the full implications and funding at that time.
Action required: To request the Greffier of the States to arrange for the Draft Mental Health (Jersey) Law to be lodged ‘au Greffe’ for consideration by the States.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Health and Social Services
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):